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Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) and the developing immune system: a narrative review

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) and the developing immune system: a narrative review
Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) and the developing immune system: a narrative review
The immune system is complex: it involves many cell types and numerous chemical mediators. An immature immune response increases susceptibility to infection, whilst imbalances amongst immune components leading to loss of tolerance can result in immune-mediated diseases including food allergies. Babies are born with an immature immune response. The immune system develops in early life and breast feeding promotes immune maturation and protects against infections and may protect against allergies. The long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are considered to be important components of breast milk. AA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and DHA are also present in the membranes of cells of the immune system and act through multiple interacting mechanisms to influence immune function. The effects of AA and of mediators derived from AA are often different from the effects of the n-3 LCPUFAs (i.e., EPA and DHA) and of mediators derived from them. Studies of supplemental n-3 LCPUFAs in pregnant women show some effects on cord blood immune cells and their responses. These studies also demonstrate reduced sensitisation of infants to egg, reduced risk and severity of atopic dermatitis in the first year of life, and reduced persistent wheeze and asthma at ages 3 to 5 years, especially in children of mothers with low habitual intake of n-3 LCPUFAs. Immune markers in preterm and term infants fed formula with AA and DHA were similar to those in infants fed human milk, whereas those in infants fed formula without LCPUFAs were not. Infants who received formula plus LCPUFAs (both AA and DHA) showed a reduced risk of allergic disease and respiratory illness than infants who received standard formula. Studies in which infants received n-3 LCPUFAs report immune differences from controls that suggest better immune maturation and they show lower risk of allergic disease and respiratory illness over the first years of life. Taken together, these findings suggest that LCPUFAs play a role in immune development that is of clinical significance, particularly with regard to allergic sensitisation and allergic manifestations including wheeze and asthma.
Allergy, Asthma, Fish oil, Immunity, Infant, Infection, Inflammation, Lactation, Polyunsaturated fatty acid, Pregnancy
2072-6643
247
Miles, Elizabeth
20332899-ecdb-4214-95bc-922dde36d416
Childs, Caroline
ea17ccc1-2eac-4f67-96c7-a0c4d9dfd9c5
Calder, Philip
1797e54f-378e-4dcb-80a4-3e30018f07a6
Miles, Elizabeth
20332899-ecdb-4214-95bc-922dde36d416
Childs, Caroline
ea17ccc1-2eac-4f67-96c7-a0c4d9dfd9c5
Calder, Philip
1797e54f-378e-4dcb-80a4-3e30018f07a6

Miles, Elizabeth, Childs, Caroline and Calder, Philip (2021) Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) and the developing immune system: a narrative review. Nutrients, 13 (1), 247, [247]. (doi:10.3390/nu13010247).

Record type: Review

Abstract

The immune system is complex: it involves many cell types and numerous chemical mediators. An immature immune response increases susceptibility to infection, whilst imbalances amongst immune components leading to loss of tolerance can result in immune-mediated diseases including food allergies. Babies are born with an immature immune response. The immune system develops in early life and breast feeding promotes immune maturation and protects against infections and may protect against allergies. The long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are considered to be important components of breast milk. AA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and DHA are also present in the membranes of cells of the immune system and act through multiple interacting mechanisms to influence immune function. The effects of AA and of mediators derived from AA are often different from the effects of the n-3 LCPUFAs (i.e., EPA and DHA) and of mediators derived from them. Studies of supplemental n-3 LCPUFAs in pregnant women show some effects on cord blood immune cells and their responses. These studies also demonstrate reduced sensitisation of infants to egg, reduced risk and severity of atopic dermatitis in the first year of life, and reduced persistent wheeze and asthma at ages 3 to 5 years, especially in children of mothers with low habitual intake of n-3 LCPUFAs. Immune markers in preterm and term infants fed formula with AA and DHA were similar to those in infants fed human milk, whereas those in infants fed formula without LCPUFAs were not. Infants who received formula plus LCPUFAs (both AA and DHA) showed a reduced risk of allergic disease and respiratory illness than infants who received standard formula. Studies in which infants received n-3 LCPUFAs report immune differences from controls that suggest better immune maturation and they show lower risk of allergic disease and respiratory illness over the first years of life. Taken together, these findings suggest that LCPUFAs play a role in immune development that is of clinical significance, particularly with regard to allergic sensitisation and allergic manifestations including wheeze and asthma.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 13 January 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 January 2021
Published date: 16 January 2021
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords: Allergy, Asthma, Fish oil, Immunity, Infant, Infection, Inflammation, Lactation, Polyunsaturated fatty acid, Pregnancy

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 446153
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/446153
ISSN: 2072-6643
PURE UUID: 5f1d834a-5e78-4b6d-9bda-fab8a84f5823
ORCID for Elizabeth Miles: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8643-0655
ORCID for Caroline Childs: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6832-224X
ORCID for Philip Calder: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6038-710X

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Date deposited: 22 Jan 2021 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:15

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